I get frustrated with the "use this free tool" approach. I'd pay for a tool that offered reliably high lossless compression capability.

The other point I'd make is that people are so used to copying stuff around their local infrastructure that they get sloppy.If you were talking about synchronising DBs then rather than copying large backup files I'd look at log shipping the changes.

At a file level perhaps we should have a facility that concentrates on keeping a catalogue of file timestamps and shifting that catalogue around. Concentrate on syncing the metadata not the data.

If someone wants a particular file then the catalogue is checked to see if an update has taken place in the past 'x' minutes. If so sync the file, if not then skip to serve the file.

The one issue I have is on large databases when upgrading from one version of SQL Server to another on a different server. Log Shipping won't help there due to the different versions of SQL. The nice thing about SQL2008R2 Standard Edition is the compressed backup. I LOVE that feature and it is free with standard Edition. Taking databases from SQL2000 and 2005 to 2008R2 and seeing how much faster the backup runs and is 80% smaller is great.

I have mailed the USB Drive to get log shipping started as well. Overnight shipping is about a 14 hour windows, and the local connections were substantially faster than the remote ones.

As for the complaint about free tools, a robust free tool like 7 zip is much more likely to have less friction then a commercial product. You are moving files between networks, so the more open the tool the less likely you will run into an unnecessary gotcha.

My experience with tools that have to last a long time, and I've been compressing files for 20+ years is that open source projects offer substantial benefits for use when you have to be interoperable. Your mileage may vary.

krowley (6/6/2013)Put the files on a USB drive and drop it in the mail or get in your car and drive them to the other location.

I was about to suggest the same thing. Sometimes the network connection between two remote locations just can't beat transporting a single 2 TB "packet" of data at 65 MPH. That's called thinking outside the box.

Robert.Sterbal (6/6/2013)My experience with tools that have to last a long time, and I've been compressing files for 20+ years is that open source projects offer substantial benefits for use when you have to be interoperable. Your mileage may vary.

I am certainly not disagreeing with your experience. It just seemed a little "black and white".